February 26, 2026 - Silver Thursday was an event that occurred in the United States silver commodity markets on Thursday, March 27, 1980, following the attempt by brothers Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt and Lamar Hunt (collectively known as the Hunt Brothers) to corner the silver market.

Beginning in 1973, the Hunt brothers started buying massive amounts of physical silver. By 1974, they already controlled tens of millions of ounces, largely stored in Switzerland and transported by aircraft and heavily armed convoys.

October 24, 2025 - The fallout led to significant ... The Hunt brothers attempted to corner the silver market by accumulating two-thirds of the global privately-owned silver supply....

August 12, 2025 - In August 1988, a federal grand jury ordered Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt and a third brother, Lamar Hunt, to pay more than $130 million in damages for conspiring to corner the world’s silver market and for ruining the investments ...

December 20, 2025 - For decades, investors were told the Hunt brothers “cornered” the silver market and drove prices to $50. Mike Maloney reveals why that story doesn’t hold up—and what really caused one of the most misunderstood moments in monetary history.

January 29, 2026 - They came dangerously close to cornering a precious metal critical to industry and culture, bent margin rules to their favor, and nearly brought the U.S. commodities market to its knees.

March 20, 2022 - In 1988, a New York City jury found for the South American firm, levying a penalty of over $130 million against the Hunts and finding that they had deliberately conspired to corner the silver market.

June 9, 2024 - Two brothers attempt to corner the silver market.

2 weeks ago - The term Silver Thursday refers the dramatic fall in the price of silver on March 27, 1980, following the Hunt brothers’ attempt to corner the market on the metal.

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January 7, 2025 - In fact, according to gold, silver did not rise. [see gold to silver timeline below] Silver kept pace with gold and the dollar’s devaluation for a hundred years. The truth is that the Hunts did not ‘corner’ silver markets, nor the gold markets, oil, gas or any other commodities where prices rose.

The Hunt Brothers, Nelson and William, dramatically influenced the silver market in the late 1970s. They attempted to corner the market by accumulating vast quantities of silver, driving prices to unprecedented levels.

February 4, 2021 - But the Hunt brothers, instead of squaring up their positions, chose to take delivery of silver. This relentless buying started pushing silver prices higher, all the way to $50 an ounce, from $11.

2 weeks ago - Beginning in the early 1970s, Hunt and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar began accumulating large amounts of silver on COMEX through Brodsky and Associates. By 1979, they had nearly cornered the global market.

December 10, 2024 - With industrial use exploding and only a thin buffer between supply and demand, a few very large traders could easily induce a price spike. Whispers began floating that the Hunt brothers were attempting to corner the market.

February 4, 2026 - Something I could personally get behind. literally every aspect of the trade made sense. And the Hunts were right about all of it. The brothers started buying in 1973, moving quietly through multiple brokers to avoid detection.

March 21, 2018 - It's a saga that almost sounds fictional but it's the real-life story of two American wealthy brothers who cornered the silver market and caused the price of silver to rocket from $2 an ounce (all currency US) to more than $50 an ounce. leaving ...

In addition to their financial losses, the Hunts faced legal repercussions. They were charged with attempting to corner the silver market, a violation of commodities trading regulations. Both brothers were fined $10 million each and banned from trading in the commodities markets for life.

The cause of the drop was attributed to the Hunt brothers, who made a concerted effort to corner the silver market through the use of their personal fortunes combined with significant amounts of leverage.

Somehow the fallacy persists that three wealthy brothers from Texas · cornered and drove the price of silver into a bubble in early 1980 which ultimately led to $1 USD billion bailout by the Federal Reserve and other commercial banks. While the Hunts contributed to the $50 USD oz silver price ...